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Council Paves Way For New Business

Saluda County Council approved a roofing project Mon., Jan. 10, that will pave the way for a new business to open in downtown Saluda. In the first meeting of 2017, Council heard a report from Development Director Ed Parler on the proposed CAB Business Development Center, which will be located at 119 N. Main Street, the former location of Saluda Consignment Shop. Saluda County will purchase the building, using development partnership funds, and will then lease the building to the town of Saluda, who will sublet it to CAB on a ten-year lease. The county has received a $115,000 grant from the S.C. Department of Commerce to make repairs on the building. From those funds will come roof repair. Because the company wants to be in the building by mid-March, Parler contacted area roofing companies to get bids. Parler recommended the county award the job to Aqua Seal Mfg. and Roofing of West Columbia for $43,750. This will replace the existing metal roof with elastometric coating, and will come with a 15-year warranty. Council approved Parler’s recommendation. While Aqua Seal did not submit the lowest bid, the 15-year warranty was a big selling point, Parler said. The other companies who submitted bids had warranties of five and four years. CAB has been in business since 1955, and operates a call center-type business. In the first year, the business will employ 29 and will eventually have a payroll of 63 people working in downtown Saluda. Parler said announcements about employment will be made later. At the beginning of the meeting, Council Chairman Don Hancock welcomed new Council members Jones Butler and D.J. Miller. Butler and Miller both said they were looking forward to serving the citizens of the council. Councilwoman Gwen Shealy, who was elected vice-chairman, read a report on the ambulance service. EMS Director Jacob Starnes, who was scheduled to give the report, got called out of the meeting, so Shealy read the totals. The ambulance service answered 3873 calls in 2016, and the average response time was 10.57 minutes. This was an improvement from 16-18 minutes the previous year. 2932 calls were answered in eight minutes or less. Shealy said the improved response time could have something to do with the substations at the Circle and in Ridge Spring. The service has four new ambulances. In the old business portion of the meeting, Council ratified a resolution recognizing retired Clerk of Court Doris Holmes for her 43-years of service to the county. Sidney J. Evering presented some minor changes in the fee-in-lieu of tax agreement between the county and Saluda Solar, LLC. The changes include the name of the business and the number of the tax map. The changes were approved. Hancock made the following appointments to committees: ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE: Personnel, Purchasing, Collection & Receipt of County Funds, Bonds & Indebtedness, Property Assessment & Taxation - Don Hancock-Chm, Full Council PUBLIC SAFETY: Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, Fire Departments, EMS, Risk Management, Animal Control - Gwen Shealy-Chm, Jones Butler HEALTH & WELFARE: Mental Health, Behavioral Health System, Beckman Center DSS, Council on Aging, Health Department, GLEAMNS, Nursing Center - DJ Miller-Chm, Gwen Shealy COUNTY PLANNING: Zoning, Building & Mobile Home Codes, Flood Control, Planning Commission, GIS, E911 - Don Hancock -Chm, DJ Miller ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Economic Development, Upper Savannah COG, County Airport - Don Hancock -Chm, DJ Miller PUBLIC WORKS I: Solid Waste - Frank Daniel -Chm, Don Hancock PUBLIC WORKS II: Roads & Bridges - Jones Butler-Chm, Frank Daniel EDUCATION: Don Hancock-Chm, Full Council JUSTICE: Solicitor, Family Court, County Attorneys, Magistrates, Tri-County Defender; Tri-County Youth Services - Gwen Shealy -Chm, Jones Butler AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, MILITARY AFFAIRS: Clemson Extension, National Guard, American Legion, Farm Service Agency, Soil Conservation, VFW Jones Butler-Chm, Frank Daniel COUNTY OWNED PROPERTY: Public Buildings, Capital Improvements, Land - Frank Daniel-Chm, Don Hancock QUALITY OF LIFE: Recreation, Library, Cultural Affairs, Improvement and Beautification - DJ Miller-Chm, Gwen Shealy Since Jacob Schumpert’s term on Council ended Dec. 31, Council had to replace Schumpert on the Tri-County Solid Waste Authority Board of Directors, and Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority Board of Directors. Councilman Frank Daniel was appointed to Tri-County, and Hancock to Three Rivers. Andrew Shaw was appointed to the Building and Mobile Home Appeals Board, and George Todd was appointed to the Planning Commission.

SC House Honors Retiring Saluda Clerk of Court Doris Holmes

With Representative Ralph Shealy Kennedy as the primary sponsor, the SC House recognized and commended retiring Clerk of Court Doris B. Holmes through a Framed, Formal House Resolution, H.5125. The Resolution was introduced by Rep. Kennedy and joined unanimously by all members of the House. It states as follow: TO RECOGNIZE AND COMMEND THE HONORABLE DORIS B. HOLMES UPON THE OCCASION OF HER RETIREMENT AS CLERK OF COURT FOR SALUDA COUNTY AND TO WISH HER CONTINUED SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN ALL HER FUTURE ENDEAVORS. Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives have learned that the Honorable Doris B. Holmes will begin a well-deserved retirement after many years of faithful and outstanding service to the citizens of the Palmetto State as Clerk of Court for Saluda County; and Whereas, former Clerk of Court Edith C. Padget, cousin of Representative Ralph Kennedy, hired Doris Holmes in 1974 and encouraged her to run for the office of clerk of court at the time of the latter’s retirement in 1988. Doris Holmes ran unopposed and took office in January 1989; and Whereas, when she retires at the end of the current term, Mrs. Holmes will have served forty-two years in the Saluda County Clerk of Court’s Office, the past twenty-eight as clerk of court; and Whereas, Doris Holmes has always found strength for her duties in the firm support of her family: her husband, Elwyn; their sons, Kirk and William; and their daughter, Amelia, who have been her most faithful encouragers; and Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is grateful for the legacy of leadership Doris B. Holmes has bestowed on this great State and appreciates the exemplary service she has given to the citizens of South Carolina. The members take great pleasure in wishing her well as she enters retirement and trusts she will find much enjoyment in the more leisurely pace of the days ahead. Now, therefore, Be it resolved by the House of Representatives: That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and commend the Honorable Doris B. Holmes upon the occasion of her retirement as Clerk of Court for Saluda County and wish her continued success and happiness in all her future endeavors. Former Rep. Kennedy stated, “Doris Holmes has successfully led our Clerk of Court’s Office here in Saluda County for many decades. She was instrumental in modernizing and bringing the Clerk’s records into the 21st Century. I want to thank Doris for her many years of unselfish and hard work to the betterment of all citizens of Saluda County.”